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One in four new HIV infections in Ontario are among women, a new survey shows.

Even though there have been significant advances in HIV care, 25% of new HIV infections from 2006 to 2008 were in women, according to a health study by researchers from the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences and St. Michael’s Hospital.

Marvelous Muchenje is one of the 4,700 women in Ontario living with HIV, most of whom contracted the disease through sexual contact.

“For women in some communities, it can be difficult to negotiate safe sex,” said Muchenje, 38, who is originally from Zimbabwe.

Women who emigrated from a country plagued by HIV make up more than half of the new infections in Ontario.

“HIV still has a stigma and some people don’t disclose to their sexual partner,” Muchenje said.

The findings, from Project for an Ontario Women’s Health Evidence-Based Report (POWER), say targeted prevention and intervention efforts are necessary to eliminate gaps and inequities in care for HIV patients.

“We have made real progress in preventing HIV infection and in treating people living with HIV, but we also identified several groups for whom important disparities persist, including older women, Aboriginal women, and women who have immigrated from countries where HIV is endemic,” Dr. Ahmed Bayoumi, a physician at St. Michael’s Hospital, said. “We also identified differences related to poverty, injection drug use, and geography. Our findings suggest that addressing such factors will be important for delivering universal, high-quality HIV care in Ontario.”

The POWER Study is the first in Ontario to provide a overview of women’s health in relation to income, education, ethnicity and geography.

“Findings support the need for strategies to promote HIV prevention and testing directed at hard to reach groups,” she said. “We also need to improve access to care for women aged 55 and older to ensure earlier diagnosis and or earlier entry to care. At the same time, findings are helping to track improvements in care, evident in the high prenatal HIV screening rate (of 95%).”

High rates of prenatal HIV screening show a targeted program can achieve measurable improvements in care, said Dr. Arlene Bierman, a physician at St. Michael’s Hospital and principal investigator of the study.

“We need to develop programs that ensure that all women who are at risk are screened and when tests are positive that they receive HIV care in a timely manner. Routine monitoring of quality indicators will allow us to evaluate these programs,” said Dr. Bierman.

One in four new HIV infections in Ontario are among women, a new survey shows.

Even though there have been significant advances in HIV care, 25% of new HIV infections from 2006 to 2008 were in women, according to a health study by researchers from the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences and St. Michael’s Hospital.

Marvelous Muchenje is one of the 4,700 women in Ontario living with HIV, most of whom contracted the disease through sexual contact.

“For women in some communities, it can be difficult to negotiate safe sex,” said Muchenje, 38, who is originally from Zimbabwe.

Women who emigrated from a country plagued by HIV make up more than half of the new infections in Ontario.

“HIV still has a stigma and some people don’t disclose to their sexual partner,” Muchenje said.

The findings, from Project for an Ontario Women’s Health Evidence-Based Report (POWER), say targeted prevention and intervention efforts are necessary to eliminate gaps and inequities in care for HIV patients.

“We have made real progress in preventing HIV infection and in treating people living with HIV, but we also identified several groups for whom important disparities persist, including older women, Aboriginal women, and women who have immigrated from countries where HIV is endemic,” Dr. Ahmed Bayoumi, a physician at St. Michael’s Hospital, said. “We also identified differences related to poverty, injection drug use, and geography. Our findings suggest that addressing such factors will be important for delivering universal, high-quality HIV care in Ontario.”

The POWER Study is the first in Ontario to provide a overview of women’s health in relation to income, education, ethnicity and geography.

“Findings support the need for strategies to promote HIV prevention and testing directed at hard to reach groups,” she said. “We also need to improve access to care for women aged 55 and older to ensure earlier diagnosis and or earlier entry to care. At the same time, findings are helping to track improvements in care, evident in the high prenatal HIV screening rate (of 95%).”

High rates of prenatal HIV screening show a targeted program can achieve measurable improvements in care, said Dr. Arlene Bierman, a physician at St. Michael’s Hospital and principal investigator of the study.

“We need to develop programs that ensure that all women who are at risk are screened and when tests are positive that they receive HIV care in a timely manner. Routine monitoring of quality indicators will allow us to evaluate these programs,” said Dr. Bierman.

One in four new HIV infections in Ontario are among women, a new survey shows.

Even though there have been significant advances in HIV care, 25% of new HIV infections from 2006 to 2008 were in women, according to a health study by researchers from the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences and St. Michael’s Hospital.

Marvelous Muchenje is one of the 4,700 women in Ontario living with HIV, most of whom contracted the disease through sexual contact.

“For women in some communities, it can be difficult to negotiate safe sex,” said Muchenje, 38, who is originally from Zimbabwe.

Women who emigrated from a country plagued by HIV make up more than half of the new infections in Ontario.

“HIV still has a stigma and some people don’t disclose to their sexual partner,” Muchenje said.

The findings, from Project for an Ontario Women’s Health Evidence-Based Report (POWER), say targeted prevention and intervention efforts are necessary to eliminate gaps and inequities in care for HIV patients.

“We have made real progress in preventing HIV infection and in treating people living with HIV, but we also identified several groups for whom important disparities persist, including older women, Aboriginal women, and women who have immigrated from countries where HIV is endemic,” Dr. Ahmed Bayoumi, a physician at St. Michael’s Hospital, said. “We also identified differences related to poverty, injection drug use, and geography. Our findings suggest that addressing such factors will be important for delivering universal, high-quality HIV care in Ontario.”

The POWER Study is the first in Ontario to provide a overview of women’s health in relation to income, education, ethnicity and geography.

“Findings support the need for strategies to promote HIV prevention and testing directed at hard to reach groups,” she said. “We also need to improve access to care for women aged 55 and older to ensure earlier diagnosis and or earlier entry to care. At the same time, findings are helping to track improvements in care, evident in the high prenatal HIV screening rate (of 95%).”

High rates of prenatal HIV screening show a targeted program can achieve measurable improvements in care, said Dr. Arlene Bierman, a physician at St. Michael’s Hospital and principal investigator of the study.

“We need to develop programs that ensure that all women who are at risk are screened and when tests are positive that they receive HIV care in a timely manner. Routine monitoring of quality indicators will allow us to evaluate these programs,” said Dr. Bierman.

Some facts about women and HIV/AIDS:

Women reported lower rates of condom use than men.

Women who inject drugs have riskier injection behaviours than men.

One-third of users of community-based HIV services are women.

Over 90% of HIV-positive pregnant women who knew their HIV status received antiretrovirals during pregnancy, which helps prevent transmission to the newborn.